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Can anyone fill us in on how they're collecting such accurate 3D detail for all these buildings? I mean are they flying airplanes with 360 degree cameras over

by Niten 15y ago

Can anyone fill us in on how they're collecting such accurate 3D detail for all these buildings? I mean are they flying airplanes with 360 degree cameras over the major cities at low altitude, for instance?

andreadallera 15y ago
I'd really like to know that too. Also, are they collecting data themselves? If not, where are they getting it from?
- Spearchucker 15y ago
  It's based on a virtual cityscape, which is painted with images taken much like StreeView's. The 3D models are built with data from Navteq's Journey View system, using lidar (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LIDAR http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LIDAR). Photos are then stitched and rendered onto the 3D models.
  - megrimlock 15y ago
    Thanks for the details! This technique works surprisingly well. (One of the artifacts I was able to find is at the base of the Bay Bridge in SF's SOMA -- there's a vertical wall that has the street surface projected up along it rather than an actual hole underneath the bridge. That does seem like a challenging case for airborne lidar + stitching.) Another impressive spot is the top of the Stratosphere Tower in Las Vegas -- it manages to capture the spike at the top fairly well. It'd be interesting to know how much hand-editing they did for sites of interest like that, and how they represent hand-edits in a way that can be re-applied when new lidar datasets come in.
Geee 15y ago
They explain it in the making of video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=emKttWFcJ_g http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=emKttWFcJ_g Basically it's car's with LIDAR and photos, planes and satellites. The LIDAR data is also used in the Nokia City Scene app http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_MxnUAVhdnU http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_MxnUAVhdnU Worth noticing is that you can click on every building i.e. 3D information is combined with regular streetview data.
sern 15y ago
It's based on C3 Technologies' product, which was unfortunately acquired by Apple, so don't count on Nokia's contract being extended. It uses a custom aerial camera system and photogrammetry toolchain to create 3D data with minimal human intervention. Australian company Nearmap started with exactly the same goals and have a similar product (custom aerial photography system with automated processing), but they don't seem to have figured the 3D photogrammetry part out yet.

by Niten 15y ago

andreadallera 15y ago

I'd really like to know that too. Also, are they collecting data themselves? If not, where are they getting it from?

Spearchucker 15y ago
It's based on a virtual cityscape, which is painted with images taken much like StreeView's. The 3D models are built with data from Navteq's Journey View system, using lidar (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LIDAR http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LIDAR). Photos are then stitched and rendered onto the 3D models.
- megrimlock 15y ago
  Thanks for the details! This technique works surprisingly well. (One of the artifacts I was able to find is at the base of the Bay Bridge in SF's SOMA -- there's a vertical wall that has the street surface projected up along it rather than an actual hole underneath the bridge. That does seem like a challenging case for airborne lidar + stitching.) Another impressive spot is the top of the Stratosphere Tower in Las Vegas -- it manages to capture the spike at the top fairly well. It'd be interesting to know how much hand-editing they did for sites of interest like that, and how they represent hand-edits in a way that can be re-applied when new lidar datasets come in.

Geee 15y ago

They explain it in the making of video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=emKttWFcJ_g http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=emKttWFcJ_g Basically it's car's with LIDAR and photos, planes and satellites. The LIDAR data is also used in the Nokia City Scene app http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_MxnUAVhdnU http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_MxnUAVhdnU Worth noticing is that you can click on every building i.e. 3D information is combined with regular streetview data.

sern 15y ago

It's based on C3 Technologies' product, which was unfortunately acquired by Apple, so don't count on Nokia's contract being extended. It uses a custom aerial camera system and photogrammetry toolchain to create 3D data with minimal human intervention. Australian company Nearmap started with exactly the same goals and have a similar product (custom aerial photography system with automated processing), but they don't seem to have figured the 3D photogrammetry part out yet.